


Friends

by merycula (thanksillpass)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 06:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1376515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanksillpass/pseuds/merycula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Ryou. Are we friends?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends

“Why do I have to go find him?!”

Satsuki clicked her tongue. “Doesn’t Sakkun always look for you when you wander off?”

Aomine blinked. Sakkun? Since when were those two that close? He crossed his arms, childishly determined to defy Satsuki’s stupid request. He wasn’t anyone’s errand boy – especially after winning a game!

“Not like I ask him to. He clings to me all on his own. I’m tired so go look for him yourself or send Wakamatsu.”

“Fuck off, maggot, and do as your manager says! And better hurry, or we’re gonna leave without you, Sakurai be damned! Serves him right to go home alone with you for causing trouble for the team.”

Aomine scoffed. Wow, someone was in the bad mood. He patiently waited for Imayoshi to scold Wakamatsu and Satsuki but nothing of the sort happened. He kept forgetting that Wakamatsu was the captain now.

“Fine, fuck. Don’t wait up, you bunch of losers.”

He flipped Wakamatsu off for good measure and walked back to the building. He checked the bathroom first to make sure Ryou wasn’t lying anywhere passed out or anything and the he hit the lockers. Predictably, Ryou was sitting on the bench with his head hanging low. Aomine was about to call out when he noticed the tears dripping from Royu’s face. His mouth closed on its own but he accidentally kicked a garbage can, startling the other boy. Shit.

Ryou’s face was puffy and his eyes were big and red and wet. Daiki had never felt so uncomfortable in his entire life. Ryou was staring at him in shock, as if it hadn’t even crossed his mind someone would see him in such state.

“A-aomine-san” he stammered, promptly wiping his face with his sleeves. “I’m so sorry you have to see me l-like this. I’m sorry. Did you f-forget something?”

Daiki winced slightly at the tremor in Ryou’s voice. He felt like some kind of peeping tom who saw something he wasn’t supposed to.

“It’s you who forgot to get your ass on the bus,” he muttered awkwardly.

Ryou’s eyes widened and he tilted his head slightly. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I told Momoi-san that I will go home by myself. Did she not tell you?”

That… fat cow! He was going to kill Satsuki and he was going to get creative about it! One drunken confession about having a dream featuring a female version of Royu and she starts imagining fuck knows what.

He ran his hand down his face and growled in frustration. “I guess she forgot…”

“I’m so sorry!” Ryou yelped. “It’s all my fault! Are they still waiting?! Aomine-san should hurry back to the bus!”

Daiki supposed the team might have still been there, it wasn’t even ten minutes since he came back here. But even he wasn’t so much of a scum to just leave Ryou alone like that.

“Nah, they left.”

“What?! Why?!”

“I… might have flipped off the captain.”

Ryou let out something that might have been a combination of a sob and an amused snort. Aomine cringed and awkwardly shuffled closer, hands in his pockets.

“Did you forget Wakamatsu-san was the captain again?

Ryou offered him a lopsided smile and Daiki found himself return it almost involuntarily. He took in the red nose and cheeks, wishing it wasn’t weird to just wipe Ryou’s face with his sleeve and offer to beat up whoever made him cry. Life was so much easier and less awkward when he and Satsu were kids.

Suddenly, Ryou dropped his eyes to the floor and sniffled, apologizing quietly. Aomine sighed and flopped down on the bench, nudging Ryou with his shoulder. He could feel the boy tense up and something pulled at his insides – contrary to popular opinion, he didn’t enjoy scaring the shit out of people just by being himself, especially those he actually didn’t hate.

“So what you’re crying about?”

Daiki immediately wanted to kick himself. If Satsuki was there to witness such a classic example of absolute insensitivity she would probably kick him herself.

But Ryou only chuckled. “Straightforward as ever, Aomine-san. I’m sorry, you really don’t have to concern yourself with me. You can go.”

Daiki shrugged and scratched his neck. How do you say you want to stick around and help without it sounding weird? Actually, how do you even interact with people without it being weird? He started to resent Satsuki for her infinite patience that spoiled him beyond belief. He started to resent himself for never predicting he’d want other friends than her. Testu would probably tell him to stop being a baby about everything that took some effort.

“Dun wanna,” he mumbled finally with a huff. “Getting home on my own is a bother. I’ll just stay here until the next game.”

To prove his words, he lied down on the bench, placing his head in Ryou’s lap and closing his eyes. He peeked after a while and almost snorted. Ryou was rigidly staring ahead with wide eyes and blinking nervously, completely red in the face, while his hands were fidgeting by his sides. Aomine didn’t know what was more surprising – how much Ryou found the situation uncomfortable or how much Daiki didn’t…

“Ryou,” he said peering at the blushing face above him. “Are we friends?”

Ryou startled and looked down on Aomine, gaping. “I… hope so? I’m sorry if it’s too forward of me.”

Daiki snorted and rolled his eyes as Ryou went back to avoiding eye contact. Aomine wondered briefly if they could possibly be more different. And yet, being around Ryou always felt nice, carefree and simple. Daiki always suspected he wouldn’t be able to get along with someone so ready to go out of their way to appease others because he was the polar opposite of that – it was others that had to comply with Aomine’s whims.

But there was something about Ryou that compelled Daiki to respect him, even if Ryou didn’t seem to respect himself at first glance. He always thought that being so apologetic all the time must actually be a huge effort for someone so competitive as Ryou and he had to admire that even if he didn’t get the reasoning behind it.

“Aomine-san. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” said Daiki with a yawn. “Figured a friend would tell a friend why he was crying like a giant baby in an empty locker room.”

Ryou spluttered indignantly and pouted, crossing his arms on his chest. “So rude, Aomine-san. I wasn’t crying like a baby.”

“But you were crying,” teased Daiki before adding in a smaller voice, “weren’t you?”

“Yeah, well, nothing wrong with that!”

“Didn’t say there was…”

Ryou bit his lip and furrowed his brows, looking at something behind Aomine’s head. Daiki idly fiddled with his sleeve, feeling usually patient all of the sudden.

“I just got frustrated, I guess. There’s been a lot going on for me lately, and- I never let anyone know because I don’t want to be bother, but- Yeah. Sorry.”

Aomine hummed softly and slowly lifted his head from Ryou’s lap, sitting and leaning his back against the lockers. He understood crying from the pent up frustration, even if it hadn’t happened to him since middle school. He figured someone like Ryou would have his fair share of that, being all secretive and stuff.

He wondered if Ryou had a Satsuki somewhere, someone to confide in when he thought there was no one else he could trust. Or if he had a Tetsu to never give up on him despite all the reasons to the contrary. Or at least a Kise to brighten up the dark moments with a sunny disposition alone. He wondered why he never bothered to ask.

“You know…” he stared awkwardly. “This team, they. They are pretty used to being bothered. I made sure of that. So… you can. Bother them, I mean. If you feel like it from time to time. They’re here for you. We’re here for you. Yeah?”

Well, that was pretty lame. Daiki cringed slightly as Ryou chuckled softly and stood up.

“That was pretty lame, Aomine-san,” he said.

Daiki flushed despite himself and glared at Ryou. His eyes soon softened upon seeing the small and sincere smile on Ryou’s face.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” mumbled Daiki, suddenly embarrassed. “We’re going or what?”

Ryou’s smile widened and he nodded. On the way out, Aomine made sure Ryou knew exactly what kind of bento he expected for his troubles. As soon as they were outside, the loud honk startled them both.

“Dai-chan, Sakkun!” yelled Satsuki, waving from the bus window.

“Took you fuckwads long enough!” shouted Wakamatsu angrily.

Aomine blinked in confusion and looked over at Ryou who looked completely stupefied. Daiki smirked at his ridiculous expression and ruffled his hair, giving him a little push. Ryou turned around, flashing Aomine a happy grin, before sprinting to the bus.

“Sorry!” he cried. “I’m so sorry! Thank you for waiting! I’m so sorry!”

When Aomine finally dragged himself onto the bus, Satsu smiled at him, holding back the furious, spluttering Wakamatsu. Aomine flipped him off for tradition’s sake and sat right behind his friend, next to Ryou. Satsuki turned around and winked at him.

“You didn’t think we would leave without you, right, Dai-chan?”

Aomine huffed and smirked. “Yeah, whatever.”


End file.
